Ten years ago I moved from editing magazines (Psychologies, Good Housekeeping, InStyle) to launching a therapist-matching platform, Welldoing. I had in mind something like Match.com, but for finding the right therapist.
In 2014, the image of mental health was secretive, shameful even. People did not talk openly about their worries, or blithely seek diagnoses.
But in the last 10 years, that has utterly changed as mental health awareness has increased, even if the solutions haven’t.
Not everyone can afford to see a therapist (though I would say that many of our 1,000 verified professionals offer concessions) so to celebrate Welldoing’s 10th anniversary, we decided to spotlight people, charities, and businesses that have focused on mental health and wellbeing to benefit all those in need.
The range of issues that affect mental health appears to grow by the day, but sometimes problems hide in plain sight. Author Lucy Jones’s book Matrescence explores the process of becoming a mother. When it happened to her, she was “profoundly shocked at the identity change, the social change, the loneliness, and the oppressive maternal ideals.
I felt like a failure until I realised this was a significant step in our development that we had forgotten.”
Her empathetic book has been a big hit among mothers and those who want to help them. We should not ignore “the huge stress, compounded by a real sense of shame, stigma and silencing” that many new mothers feel.
Another winning therapist, Nicky Forsythe, created Talk For Health, a group peer counselling programme. Launched as a social enterprise in 2013, it is a four-day programme in which people “learn key skills, which are to share fruitfully about emotions, and to feed back to each other using counselling skills within a defined framework. Over 10 years, we demonstrated that our programme was as effective as therapy in lifting wellbeing and reducing depression”.
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Mark Harris, who has done several courses, told me: “Something changes inside. People feel loved, wanted, not judged. I didn’t know that was possible.”
Sadly, T4H has recently lost its funding and has, only this month, suspended its activities. We hope our award might win it a second chance.
The Evening Standard sponsored the Welldoing Inspiration Awards and we were delighted when editor-in-chief Dylan Jones nominated the charity Steel Warriors. Out of the knives surrendered in gang amnesties, it has built four outdoor gyms in gang-neutral London areas where people can gather for a common purpose, building their strength and improving their self-esteem.
As head of development, Christian D’Ippolito, says: “We teach self-development through the medium of calisthenics. It’s a progression-based approach to exercise and fitness, easily transferable to other areas of a young person’s life.”
Mental wellbeing is also important. As coach Tayo Awoderu says: “It inspires many young people — it’s really a form of therapy.” And it costs nothing to train there.
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Dylan Jones says: “There were 14,000 knife crime incidents last year. It is a terrible situation and this is a great initiative.
“Also, anything the media can do to shine a light on macho violent behaviour is good.
“We were delighted to sponsor the awards. What you’re doing at Welldoing is great,therapist-matching is very smart. I speak as a believer in therapy. The more we can publicise the issue of mental health the better.”
A well-known name in therapy is Julia Samuel, a bereavement expert and podcaster. She has published three books, created a bereavement app, and now co-hosts the Therapy Works podcast — and we wanted to celebrate that long career.
She is happy to see less shame and stigma in recent times but criticises “the pathologising of normal emotions. I would say there’s still more education that needs to come through.”
The other winners of the Welldoing Inspiration Awards are:
- Paula Hines, founder of U Can Yoga, which specialises in restorative yoga and works with Mind Walk Yoga which focuses on black women and wellbeing.
- Rachael Grimaldi of CardMedic created a company that aims to enable any patient in a UK hospital to have medical procedures digitally explained in their language, an especially valuable aid when people are ill and feeling vulnerable.
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- Emma Colyer of Body and Soul, a charity that provides services for young people in pain, including a strong programme for suicide prevention.
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As we head into the next decade, we hope that if mental health is your priority you will keep an eye on Welldoing for news, views and — if you need it — the right therapist for you.
